Comment by _Adam | Hacker News Reader

Comment by _Adam | Hacker News Reader

As stupid as this sounds, there is actually a difference between these ice cubes and the standard variety. And that's the appearance.

Just look:

http://www.glaceice.net/uploads/3/9/6/9/3969825/3969289_orig...

Because there's no air bubbles, the ice is perfectly clear. That's not a trivial fact. Humans innately like clear stuff! Just think how unappealing cloudy water is in comparison to clear water. The only exceptions arise from cases where we've learnt from experience that cloudiness is good (e.g. cloudy looking cider has more flavour)

What this means, is that without considering price, almost any person would rather use one of these ice cubes over a normal ice cube. So the potential market is measured in billions of people. Even if (for example) only 0.01% of the population would ever consider spending $325 for 50 ice cubes, that 0.01% is guaranteed to want these ice cubes.

It seems stupid, but it's actually brilliant. The weakness with this sort of model is that it's very easy for competitors to dominate the market. Gläce has established the demand and made ice sexy, but they have no hold on their customers. Someone could come in and sell a perfect ice maker for $200 and crush the pre-made high end ice market completely.

This doesn't detract from your point, but it's worth noting that that's probably not an ice cube in the photograph -- more likely, its plastic (in the same vein that photographers use glue instead of milk for cereal).

One of my favorite blogs, Alcademics, has a great set of experiments on how to capture the glory of clear ice at home:

http://www.alcademics.com/2010/08/a-homemade-giant-crystal-c...

Can't you get the same thing out of a Kold-Draft machine? Isn't that what high-end bars already do? What reputable high-end cocktail bar --- Pegu, Booker & Dax, PDT, Aviary, &c --- uses this stuff?

The article indicates that this is an end-consumer product. If I were an amateur craft cocktail maker, I might consider buying a small amount versus a commercial machine.

So then couldn't any local ice company buy a Kold-Draft machine and undercut this?

-> tptacek This has all the hallmarks of a Veblen Good. Cutting the price of the ices could well backfire if the key attraction is in signalling to all how much you're willing to spend for quality pre-melted water.

> Someone could come in and sell a perfect ice maker for $200 and crush the pre-made high end ice market completely.

Doubtful. What customers are buying is a feeling, not a specification.

Such people would not buy an Acme watch just because it looks as good as and keeps better time than a Rolex, because the brand and its image is the product.

Surely nothing makes that more apparent than luxury ice.

A $200 ice machine isn't going after the people who would buy an $800 ice machine so much as the people that want to be people who can buy an $800 ice machine. It's the reason Seikos and Omega exist in the watch market. You get some of the reflected glory, but can say "I'm more financially prudent than the guy with the Rolex" or "I'm beating the hell out of the guy with the Timex"

...people that want to be people who can buy an $800 ice machine.

And that's a vastly bigger market than people who can buy an $800 ice machine.

I'm pretty sure you can get clear ice cubes by just freezing hot water. Bonus: they actually freeze faster than cold water.

Maybe? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect Apparently the science of water freezing is still not that well understood

It does for me. Pretty easy thing to try in your freezer.

Looks like you just have to use boiled water to make clean ice: http://www.instructables.com/id/make-crystal-clear-ice!/ And bars already have a "boiling machine" (cafe machine) :)

Clear ice is nice, but you don't need to pay $8 a cube to make clear ice.

There's a lot of stuff you can make at home more cheaply than you can buy it. There will still always be people who have the money and want the convenience.

You don't actually believe a product marketing photo matches reality? Any piece of ice will crack as it melts, so it won't look like this. Yes, you can avoid the bubbles, but you can hardly see the bubbles behind the cracks that will form anyway.

Look at a marketing photo of a cheap McDonalds burger, and compare it with the real thing.

Oh, I've had some long lasting, crack free, crystal clear ice cubes in my day. I didn't have to pay extra for them, though.

You can get really nice clear ice cubes at most grocery stores if you aren't hung up on what shape they are.

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